Pietro Maximoff (Earth-616)
QUICKSILVER Real Name: Pietro Maximoff Nicknames: No known nicknames Former Aliases: No known former aliases Other Current Aliases: No other known current aliases Occupation: (current) Adventurer, (former) Terrorist, officer of the Inhumans militia, United States government operative Legal Status: Former citizen of Transia, naturalized citizen of the United States, citizen (by marriage) of Attilan Identity: Publicly known Marital Status: Married Group Affiliation: Avengers, unofficial member of the Royal Family of the Inhumans, (former) Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I, X-Factor II Base of Operations: Currently a castle on the Hudson River in upstate New York that is owned by the High Evolutionary; (former) Transia; Avengers Mansion, Manhattan; Avengers Compound, Palos Verdes, California; X-Factor headquarters, Washington D. C. Place of Birth: Wundagore Mountain, Transia (in Eastern Europe) Known Relatives: Magneto (father), Magda (last name unrevealed, mother, presumed deceased), Django Maximoff (adoptive father), Marya Maximoff (adoptive mother, deceased), Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch, sister), Crystal (wife), Luna (daughter), Medusa (sister-in-law), Black Bolt, Gorgon, Karnak, Triton, Maximus (cousins by marriage), Vision (former brother-in-law) First Appearance: X-MEN (first series) #4 Origin: Quicksilver is a mutant, born with his special abilities. History: Pietro Maximoff is the son of the mutant called Magneto and his wife, the gypsy named Magda. Just prior to Pietro's birth, Magda fled from Magneto, terrified of the bizarre powers he suddenly manifested and his intentions of world domination. Seeking refuge in the scientific citadel of Wundagore in the Balkan Mountains of the tiny European nation of Transia, Magda was taken in by Bova, a humanoid cow evolved by the genetic engineer called the High Evolutionary. Magda gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, with Bova as her midwife, and named them Wanda and Pietro. Still afraid that her husband might find her and learn of the children, Magda left Bova a note explaining her fears and walked into the frozen mountain wilderness to perish. Feeling that it was not right to raise two seemingly normal babies amid the evolved animal-men of Wundagore, Bova was relieved when, several nights later, an American couple, Robert and Madeline Frank, also came to Wundagore seeking assistance. The Franks were former super heroes active during World War II known as the Whizzer and Miss America; Madeline was now pregnant and about to give birth. Bova intended to give the couple the days-old twins to raise along with their own newborn. Unfortunately, the couple's child was stillborn and Madeline died from complications in giving birth. Bova presented Robert Frank with the twins, claiming they were his own natural children, in the hope that it would assuage his grief. Instead, Frank fled from Wundagore upon hearing of his wife's death, nearly insane with grief. (Years later, the children would come to believe for a time that Frank was their natural father.) Bova then presented the twins to her master, the High Evolutionary, who agreed to find foster human parents for them. He chose Django and Marya Maximoff, a gypsy couple camped nearby who had lost their own twin children, Ana and Mateo, during World War II. The Maximoffs accepted the strange gifts from the High Evolutionary and cared for the children as if they were their own. (Years later, the aging Django would mistakenly believe that Wanda and Pietro were his natural children Ana and Mateo.) As adolescents, Wanda and Pietro discovered that they had unusual superhuman abilities. When Django began to steal food to feed his starving family, enraged villagers attacked the gypsy camp. Using his phenomenal speed, Pietro fled from the camp with his sister. The circumstances of their separation from their family were so traumatic that not until well into adulthood could they remember anything but the barest details of their childhood. For the next few years Wanda and Pietro wandered central Europe, living off the land. One day, Wanda accidentally caused a house to burst into flame through her hex powers, which she could not yet control. Superstitious townspeople began chasing her, thinking she was a witch. Despite Pietro's attempt to defend her, they were soon overpowered and were about to become victims of mob violence when Magneto came to their rescue. Unaware that he was their natural father, Magneto pressed them into service in his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, costumed them, and named them the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. For months they served Magneto out of a sense of obligation and fear of his reprisal. As members of the Brotherhood, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch aided Magneto in his terrorist campaigns against humanity and helped him combat the original members of the X-Men. Magneto did not realize Wanda and Pietro were his children, nor did they know he was their father. When the Brotherhood was defeated by the overwhelming powers of the alien Stranger, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch quit the Brotherhood; the Stranger transported Magneto away from Earth, and Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch returned to Transia. Avengers, a world-renowned team of super heroes. They were inducted along with Hawkeye to take the place of the charter members, who wished to take a leave of absence. Although the hot-tempered Quicksilver and Hawkeye often both rebelled against his orders, Avengers leader Captain America molded them into valuable team members. Humanity's suspicion of mutants still rankled Quicksilver, and he briefly rejoined Magneto after the latter returned to Earth, compelling his sister to come with him. Months after the X-Men and Avengers defeated Magneto, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch resumed their membership in the Avengers. Seriously injured during the Avengers' battle against the Sentinels, Quicksilver was taken to medical care by Crystal, a member of the royal family of the hidden race of Inhumans. Months passed before Quicksilver was well enough to contact his companions to tell them what had happened to him. During that time Quicksilver became romantically involved with Crystal, and the two married after a brief courtship. The wedding, held in the Inhumans' refuge of Attilan, then located in the Himalayan Mountains, was attended by the Inhumans, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four. Not long after the birth of his and Crystal's first child, Luna, Quicksilver learned the truth about his parentage. Magneto had stumbled upon Bova and learned from her that Magda and Pietro were his children. Confronting Quicksilver and his sister in Attilan with this revelation, Magneto apparently hoped to sway his children to rejoin his crusade against humanity. But Quicksilver denounced Magneto for his callous treatment of them when they were members of his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and refused to believe he had changed his ways. A man of action, Quicksilver volunteered his services to the head of the Inhumans' small militia and became an officer. During the period of his service, however, the Inhumans had no call for military activity. Quicksilver's neglect of his wife led Crystal to become involved with another man. Learning of her infidelity, Quicksilver refused to forgive her and fled Attilan, vowing vengeance on her and all those he perceived as having wronged him. Unknown to anyone, however, Crystal's malevolent cousin Maximus was manipulating Quicksilver's mind, fanning Quicksilver's anger at Crystal into a rage directed against his former colleagues in the Avengers. Quicksilver framed the Avengers for treason, thereby turning the federal government against them until they cleared their names. Quicksilver also led the members of the android version of the criminal organization Zodiac against the Avengers, fought the Fantastic Four, and joined forces with various Soviet-era Communist operatives against the Avengers' West Coast division. Eventually Maximus' control over Quicksilver's mind lapsed and Pietro ended his criminal ways. The Inhumans' monarch Black Bolt commanded that the reluctant Quicksilver reconcile with Crystal. Their initial attempts failed. Quicksilver joined the Avengers' West Coast branch for a time. Eventually Crystal took Luna to Earth and joined the Avengers, and Quicksilver shortly afterwards became a special operative of the United States government in its new version of X-Factor. Quicksilver and Crystal again attempted a reconciliation, and this time they were successful. Quicksilver left X-Factor and again became affiliated with his wife's team, the Avengers. However, their happiness was short-lived, because Crystal seemingly perished in the Avengers' battle against Onslaught. In actuality she, along with other members of the Avengers, had been transported to an alternate reality. During her absence, the High Evolutionary asked Quicksilver to become the leader of a small band of his Knights of Wundagore, animals that the geneticist had endowed with human intelligence and humanoid-like forms. Quicksilver accepted and now leads the Knights in battles against injustice. Quicksilver and Crystal were happily reunited after she and the other missing Avengers finally returned to their native Earth. Height: 6' Weight: 175 lbs (80 kg) Eyes: Silver Hair: White Unusual Features: No unusual features Strength Level: Quicksilver possesses superhuman strength primarily in his lower body as part of his body's adaptations for running. With his upper body he can lift (press) approximately 1000 pounds. He can leg press approximately one ton under optimal conditions. Known Powers: Quicksilver is a mutant who possesses the superhuman capacity to think and move at great speeds. His entire body is adapted towards the rigors of high-speed running. His cardiovascular and respiratory systems are many times more efficient than those of a normal human being. He metabolizes an estimated 95% of the caloric energy content of foodstuffs (normal human use is about 25%). The chemical processes of Quicksilver's musculature are so highly enhanced that his body does not generate fatigue poisons, the normal by-products of locomotion, which force the body to rest. Rather, his body constantly expels waste products during his accelerated respiration through exhalation. His joints are smoother and lubricated more efficiently than those of a normal human being. His tendons have the tensile strength of spring steel. His bones contain unknown materials significantly more durable than calcium to withstand the dynamic shocks of his feet touching the ground at speeds of over 100 miles per hour. Quicksilver's practical reaction time is about five times faster than a normal human's and the speed at which his brain processes information is heightened to a level commensurate with his bodily speed, enabling him to perceive his surroundings while traveling at high velocities. Quicksilver's lachrymose is more viscous than normal, thus preventing rapid evaporation and replenishment of surface fluids on his eyeballs under the influence of high wind velocity to occlude his vision. Quicksilver has been timed at speeds of up to 175 miles per hour, approximately three times faster than the fastest land animal, the cheetah. He has sufficient energy reserves to enable him to run at this average speed for about four hours, whereupon he must reduce his speed, replenish his body's store of energy, or do both. Quicksilver has used his powers of acceleration for various feats. He has plucked an arrow out of the air from a standing start, after the arrow left the bow and traveled a distance of about 20 feet. He has dodged machine gun fire, but presumably he was able to see the path of the bullets change as his assailant was attempting to track him with a burst. He has created cyclone-like gusts of wind, which are able to knock a man off his feet, by racing around in a ten-foot diameter circle. With a 500-foot approach to gain momentum, Quicksilver can run approximately 300 feet up the side of a surface with a 90-degree inclination (such as a building) before gravity overtakes him. With a 100-foot approach to gain momentum, he can run across a body of water for approximately 1000 feet before beginning to sink. After exposure to "Isotope E", Pietro's powers were greatly increased. He now seems to run at supersonic speeds. Known Abilities: No known abilities. Equipment: No known equipment. Transportation: No known transportation. Weapons: No known weapons. Notes: No special notes. ---- Related Articles: ---- External Links: ---- References: * Marvel Directory ---- Return to Character Selection ----